From Old English 'cnyttan' (to tie knots), from PIE *gnod- (to bind) — carrying its silent 'k' as a pronunciation fossil.
To make fabric by interlocking loops of yarn with knitting needles or a machine; to join closely together; a knitted fabric or garment.
From Old English 'cnyttan' (to tie, to bind, to knot), from Proto-Germanic *knuttjaną (to knot), from *knuttaz (knot), from PIE *gnod- (to tie, to bind, to knot). The word originally meant to tie or knot — the sense of making fabric by interlocking loops developed in the Middle English period when the technique became widespread in England. The silent 'k' in 'knit' is a fossil: Old English pronounced the 'k' in 'cn-' clusters, and the silent initial letter
English has a cluster of words beginning with silent 'kn-' that all relate to lumps, bumps, and binding: knot, knit, knob, knuckle, knee, knead, knell, knife, knight, knock, knoll. In Old English, the 'k' was pronounced: 'cnyttan' was /knytt-an/. The 'k' fell silent in the seventeenth century but was preserved in spelling — a museum